A toast: Alcohol sales are up in Gloucester, Mathews

December 31, 2013|By Matt Sabo, msabo@dailypress.com | Daily Press

Alcohol has proven to be recession-proof in Gloucester and Mathews.

While alcohol sales aren't exactly spiking, gross sales were up 4 percent in Gloucester and Mathews in the 2013 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to a report from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The toast of the sales figures was the ABC store on York Crossing Drive in Gloucester. Gross sales were $2 million for the year, up 6 percent, according to ABC figures.

The ABC store on Main Street in Gloucester has gross sales of $1.6 million, up 3 percent over the previous year, according to ABC figures.

In Mathews, the ABC store had gross sales of $837,340, up 1 percent over the previous year, according to ABC figures.

Across Virginia, alcohol sales reached $769 million in the 2013 fiscal year, up 5 percent over the previous year, according to ABC figures.

Customers of the ABC store on York Crossing Drive bought nearly 31,000 gallons of liquor, ABC figures show. That's an average price of $66 per gallon of liquor, or about 20 times the cost of a gallon of gas or milk.

At the Main Street store, customers purchased 25,519 gallons of liquor, ABC figures show. That's an average price of $63 per gallon of liquor.

In Mathews, ABC customers bought 14,325 gallons of liquor, ABC figures show. That's an average price of $58 per gallon of liquor.

While Mathews residents may be buying more of the cheaper stuff, their per capita rate of alcohol purchase was virtually the same as in Gloucester: two gallons per those of drinking age.

While Gloucester's sales of alcohol were up, don't credit Al Sorensen for it. Sorensen walked out of the Main Street ABC store recently with a bottle of Bacardi rum.

"This bottle will last me a year," Sorensen said. "I may have one drink a month or so."

The top seller at all three stores, according to ABC figures, is Jim Beam straight bourbon whiskey. A 1.75-liter bottle of Jim Beam runs $30.90.

Whiskey and vodka dominated the list of top sellers at all three stores, accoridng to ABC figures.